


through the night

by confidentpetal



Category: Persona 3, Persona Series
Genre: F/M, Fluff, One Shot, Slow Burn, Writing the protagonist is hard af
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-18
Updated: 2018-04-18
Packaged: 2019-04-24 18:20:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14361006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/confidentpetal/pseuds/confidentpetal
Summary: It wasn't the first time Yukari knocked on Minato's bedroom door in the middle of the night.It was the first time he woke up beside her, though.





	through the night

_**4:00 a.m.** _

Minato woke, slowly opening his eyes. The room surrounded by darkness reminded him it wasn't time to leave the bed yet. In that nice warm summer night, his bed was specially inviting and the boy considered falling asleep again.

He tossed and turned his body around, facing the other side of the bed. Then, a delicate wave of perfume invaded his nostrils. He felt a warmth beside him and started to recall what happened in the last evening. Yukari was sleeping soundly in the corner between the bed and the wall, releasing light snores through her nose. Her hair invaded his side of the matress, but Minato didn't care.

Just knowing that she was there, that she was real, calmed him like nothing else. More than anything, having her sleeping beside him reminded him of the present moment and not letting it go.

 

_**00:20 a.m., earlier in that same night** _

When Yukari appeared sobbing and miserable at his bedroom door, the clock was pointing twenty minutes after midnight. She had just dreamt of her father, of her life before the accident, the shadows and the Dark Hour. She had dreamt that she would die, that the world would come to an end and that her life lost meaning. The first thing she did when she woke from that nightmare was to run euphoric after him.

Already used to having bad dreams, Minato was very compassionate about his dormmate's torments. He listened to her crying, held her tightly and spoke a few words of calm. It wasn't the first time she appeared so suddenly. It didn't annoy him - the boy was rarely asleep before midnight; usually spending long moments lying awake and staring at the ceiling, deep into his own dreads. In a certain way, opening the door to the corridor and finding Yukari, even if when she was so sensitive and upset, made him feel less alone. Perhaps she had looked for him because she shared that feeling.

It was the first time she spent the whole night in his room, though. They talked for a very long time, she sprawled herself on the bed and he sat at the edge of the mattress. After some time, the subject was no longer melancholic. They remembered the past months, exchanged confidences, laughed softly and forgot about the shadows hovering over everywhere. Yukari's expansive personality showed in her heartful laughter, in moments that only she spoke while he listened attentively, in how comfortably she occupied the space in bed. In her presence, the cold and empty room was full with life.

At some point, Yukari pulled at his hand. "Won't you come to bed?", she whispered sweetly at his ear. It was sudden, and yet so endearing that Minato laid down without the slightest clue of how to interpret that gesture. He wasn't exactly the best at reading signs, and those sent by Yukari were usually even more confusing. Their friendship dwelled in a fragile territory, and the more secret encounters and physical contact, the more cloudy it all became. He was already used to hold her, and she would often poke him playfully. There were some ways of touching, however, that were simply _different._

Minato felt her warm hand sliding under the blanket to meet his own. Her fingers fit slowly between his and closed tightly. The boy swallowed dry, the hairs in his neck standing still. For a brief second, he was full with a desperate need of closing the small distance between them.

Then he heard Yukari's snores. In the absolute silence of the midnight hours, he could feel her heart beating in peace between the adorable sounds coming out of her nose. Her hand was still holding his, very firmly. Minato thought about how she came to his room exhausted and crying, about the long conversation they shared and how she pulled him close before falling asleep. His chest ached in a strange, unusual way, like his heart could burst out at any moment. A voice in his head warned: _Don't come too close, don't get attached, one day this will all be-_

 _It doesn't matter if it will all be over. It's real now and that's all that matters_ , he shut the voice up. He relaxed his back against the mattress and a smile escaped the corner of his mouth. And then he closed his eyelids and let himself be taken by the darkness.

__

_**6:00 a.m.** _

This time, Minato woke up alone in bed, clarity penetrating the room. Yukari's gracious silhouette stood right in front of him. Her hands were up in her light brown hair, trying to comb it into a small ponytail. Against the sunlight, the thin fabric of her summer sleepwear seemed slightly transparent, revealing a bit more than he was used to see.

As if she felt the boy's glance behind her back, Yukari turned around to face him. In a quick impulse, Minato shut his eyes.

"Come on, stop pretending you're asleep. I saw you looking"

Minato opened his eyes again, his face burning.

"Are you leaving already?", he asked.

"Already?", she repeated, as if the question was absurd. "It's freaking six in the morning, way past time I came back to my bedroom. I don't want to cross the corridor and meet face-first with Junpei. Or Akihiko-senpai. Or Shinjiro-senpai. God, would it be embarrassing. And Amada-kun? I bet even he understands what it means to catch a girl sneaking out a boy's room"

"So was it a problem, staying the night?", he asked.

The question caught her by surprise.

"Well no, of course not", she bit her lower lip, blushing a little. "Definitely not. But the others will ta–"

"Stay a little longer", he said bluntly.

Imitating the girl's gesture in the night before, Minato gently pulled Yukari by her hand, back to bed. She conceded with a deep breath, laying down slowly and resting her head against his chest.

"Thank you for yesterday. For everything, I mean. Like always", she said in a soft, quiet tone.

"But I didn't do anything", he whispered back with a smirk.

"Just accept the thanks, you idiot", she poked his torax with her elbow.

There, holding each other, nothing else seemed to matter. Not the state of their relationship, nor if someday the world would end, not even the creeping fact that life is fleeting and, in the future, maybe Yukari couldn't reach for Minato in the middle of the night anymore, to hold him and to steal a warm place between his blankets. It didn't even matter what their dormmates would think…

"Hey, Minato", Yukari whispered against his shoulder. "I wonder if this floor is too high for me to climb down the window..."

 

***

**Author's Note:**

> Hey. It's been a VERY LONG while since I last wrote a fanfic. Like, more than five years. Yup.  
> Although I love almost every Persona 3 pairing, this one holds a very dear place in my heart. There isn't a lot of Protagonist/Yukari fanfics out there, so I hope this one's a worthy contribution.


End file.
